Green Bay Packers rookie Trey Smack kicked a game-winning 26-yard field goal with 5:23 remaining in overtime to defeat the New York Jets 20-17 at rainy MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday.
Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes for the Packers (1-1), who were only 1-for-9 on third down but erased a 17-7 deficit after three quarters thanks to their defense.
Green Bay had just 199 total yards but scored the final 13 points in the game in a sloppy defensive struggle that included 27 total penalties. The Packers fumbled five times but lost just one of them.
The Packers limited Jets running back Breece Hall to 29 yards on 16 carries. Jets quarterback Geno Smith was 27-of-41 passing for 247 yards and a touchdown.
Green Bay stuffed the Jets on back-to-back plays near midfield on New York’s final possession in regulation. The Packers’ front seven, led by Lukas Van Ness, turned back Braelon Allen for no gain at midfield on 4th-and-1 from the 50 to take possession in a 17-17 game with under two minutes to play.
Green Bay moved backward 5 yards, sending the game to overtime, where the Jets moonwalked almost all the way to their own goal line courtesy of consecutive sacks — one by Van Ness — and a false start by wide receiver Isaiah Williams.
The Packers scored 10 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to force the extra period. Love appeared to scramble for a 7-yard touchdown, but the play was erased by a holding penalty. Chris Brooks moved the Packers to the 3 and Love hit Christian Watson for a 3-yard TD, cutting the Jets’ lead to 17-14 with 7:58 on the clock.
Smack’s first field goal, a 34-yarder, tied the game 17-17 with 2:59 to play.
Smith and Garrett Wilson hooked up on first-and-goal at the 5 for a TD that gave the Jets their first lead of the game, 14-7, with 2:30 to go in the third quarter. A roughing the passer penalty on Van Ness gave the Jets prime field position and aided a 10-play, 70-yard march boosted by 14-yard runs by Hall and Isaiah Williams on consecutive plays.
Jason Sanders pushed the lead to 10 with 11:04 remaining after the Jets recovered MarShawn Lloyd’s fumble to set themselves up in the red zone. The Jets moved 9 yards but after a delay of game penalty settled for the 32-yard field goal.
Love gave the Packers a 7-0 lead when he found Lloyd for a 6-yard touchdown with 9:35 left in the second quarter. It was Lloyd’s first career touchdown. In shotgun formation with three wide receivers, Lloyd caught a delayed screen outside the right hash marks and cut back to the middle of the field where no defender was within 3 yards as he skipped across the goal line.
The Jets came right back with a seven-play, 70-yard drive capped by Allen’s 6-yard TD run. Allen took a handoff from Smith out of shotgun formation, took two strides toward the line and bounced right to easily stroll into the end zone.
An ugly first quarter included six punts and five total first downs. The teams combined for five three-and-out possessions in the first half.
Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed left the game on a spine board with a neck injury. He caught a swing pass for a 4-yard gain but lost the ball on a hit by linebacker Demario Davis and crumpled to the turf. The Packers’ bench emptied around Reed as he was loaded onto a motorized cart. He was ruled out immediately.
Davis hit Reed shoulder-first and the jarring blow caused Reed’s arms to go limp and release the football.
On the next play, Packers right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele went down with a right knee injury. His right leg was placed in an air cast. The team later declared he wouldn’t return.